Essays in Labor Ecnomics

Abstract

This dissertation studies various aspects of labor economics, such as subjective well-being, the effects of pronatalist policies as well as tools that are helpful for economic analysis such as using incentives in surveys. Subjective well-being has become a popular topic in labor economics as some economists suggest that subjective well-being and utility are closely related. Economic theory suggests that individual characteristics and the quality of formal institutions, in particular corruption, should influence the level of one's well-being and understanding this connection help better understand different aspects of incentives of corruption. Understanding fertility decisions of women depending on financial incentives is another relevant topic for labor economics. Pronatalist policies can have heterogeneous effects as women with different socio-economic backgrounds would view the strength of financial incentives differently. Finally, I evaluate how financial incentives are used in convincing people to take a survey. Both academic and commercial researchers struggle to increase response rates in surveys, and understanding how these incentives work contributes to solving the low response rate problem.